Assessment Brief You are working as a leadership and governance consultant appointed to conduct an independent evaluation of an organisation facing a complex set of leadership, governance, and ethical challenges.
Assessment Brief You are working as a leadership and governance consultant appointed to conduct an independent evaluation of an organisation facing a complex set of leadership, governance, and ethical challenges. You will select one organisation from the following three:
Nucor Corporation Tesco plc BHP Group Limited Your task is to produce a comprehensive report for the board of your selected organisation, focusing on how leadership, governance, ethics, and sustainability are contributing to (or hindering) long-term organisational success.
The board has commissioned your report to better understand:
Whether the organisation's leadership approach is appropriate and effective. How governance practices and regulatory pressures are influencing outcomes. How ethical leadership and sustainable practices contribute to the organisation's long-term value creation and resilience. How well-informed and evidence-based your analysis is, drawing on a wide range of academic and management resources. Your report should be analytical, applied, and grounded in the theories and frameworks explored in the Leading Contemporary Organisations module. It should provide clear, well-supported recommendations and demonstrate a critical approach to applying leadership and governance knowledge in a real-world business context.
Getting Started: Research Guidance To conduct a high-quality analysis, you should begin by reviewing the most recent annual reports, investor presentations, and sustainability or ESG disclosures of your chosen organisation. These documents will help you understand the organisation's leadership structure, board composition, strategic priorities, governance framework, and ethical commitments.
Additional insights may be found in:
Regulatory filings and corporate governance statements. News coverage of leadership or governance issues. Academic and professional case studies. Reports from independent research organisations, ESG rating agencies, think tanks, and industry analysts. Research from broader industry trends and changing macro dynamics. Your ability to select and interpret relevant, credible material will directly impact the depth and quality of your analysis.
Task requirements on the next page.
Task 1: Leadership Evaluation (LO1) Learning Outcome 1: Develop a critical understanding of key leadership concepts, theories and models applied to real business challenges.
Critically analyse the leadership approach in your chosen organisation by applying relevant leadership theories and models. Your analysis should demonstrate how the leader's style, decisions, and behaviours have influenced the organisation's strategic direction and culture, particularly in response to key business challenges. Guidance:
Identify the key leader(s) and explain their leadership approach using relevant theories and models (e.g. transformational, transactional, servant leadership, ethical, authentic leadership). Apply these theories and models to analyse how leadership behaviours and decisions have influenced the organisation's strategic direction, culture, and stakeholder relationships, particularly during key moments such as crisis, transformation, or growth. Critically evaluate the suitability and effectiveness of the leadership approach in context, by discussing its strengths and limitations, drawing on evidence such as performance outcomes, media coverage, stakeholder feedback, or internal controversies. Your discussion should reflect critical engagement with leadership literature and supporting evidence, such as investor statements, company press releases, media coverage, leadership speeches, analyst commentary, and academic analysis. Task 2: Ethics and Sustainability Evaluation (LO3) Learning Outcome 3: Develop a critical appreciation of the role of ethics and sustainability on long-term business success.
Select one major ethical or sustainability challenge your chosen organisation has faced in the last five years. Critically assess how the organisation's leadership responded and evaluate the effectiveness of their actions in promoting long-term stakeholder trust, reputation, and resilience. Guidance:
Identify and discuss a clear ethical or sustainability challenge and analyse the leadership response. Consider how the response advanced or fell short of the Triple Bottom Line and identify which SDGs, if any, were impacted by the challenge or the response. Was the organisation's action consistent with global sustainability goals? Conclude with your evaluation of whether the leadership response enhanced the organisation's resilience, reputation, and strategic success – or whether it introduced ethical, reputational, or operational risks, including perceptions of greenwashing or bluewashing. Use evidence from sustainability reports, leadership statements, media coverage, regulatory actions, and academic or NGO analyses. Task 3: Corporate Governance and Regulatory Impact (LO2) Learning Outcome 2: Critically evaluate the impact of corporate governance and the regulatory context on the success of an organisation.
Select and critically evaluate key internal and external corporate governance mechanisms in your chosen organisation (such as board structure, oversight practices, shareholder influence, or regulatory obligations. Analyse how these mechanisms have shaped the organisation's strategic decision-making, reinforced or weakened accountability at leadership level, and influenced its ability to achieve defined goals (e.g. financial stability, ethical conduct, stakeholder confidence, or crisis resilience). Support your evaluation with relevant governance theories and evidence. Guidance:
Critically evaluate the selected internal and external governance mechanisms that are most relevant to your chosen organisation (e.g. board structure, executive oversight, investor influence, regulatory frameworks). Explain why these are significant to your case. Apply appropriate theoretical frameworks (such as agency theory, stakeholder theory, or information asymmetry) to analyse how governance has shaped strategic decision-making, reinforced or weakened leadership accountability, and influenced corporate behaviour. Assess the impact of governance on organisational success, clearly defining what success means in your context (e.g. financial results, sustainable growth, crisis response, ethical conduct, stakeholder trust). Reflect on how governance practices have contributed to or constrained that success and reflect on any weaknesses or controversies. Support with evidence: Use board reports, regulatory filings, shareholder statements, media coverage, and academic commentary to underpin your analysis. Task 4: Independent Learning and Critical Resource Use (LO4) Learning Outcome 4: Apply a wide range of relevant management resources to direct and shape their own learning experience.
Select and reflect on up to five key resources that you used to support your analysis throughout this assignment. Evaluate how these shaped your understanding of leadership, governance, ethics, or sustainability, and how they contributed to your ability to engage with complex organisational issues. Guidance:
Select three to five key resources that significantly informed your assignment. These can include academic articles, governance codes, annual reports, ESG ratings, board evaluations, or industry analyses. Justify your selection and evaluate each resource's contribution. Explain why you chose it, how it supported your understanding of leadership, governance, ethics, or sustainability, and critically assess its usefulness and any limitations. Demonstrate independent judgement: Highlight any strategic choices you made in balancing sources to show different perspectives or how you adopted your approach as the assignment developed. Presentation and Structure Well-organised report with a logical structure and clear section headings and subheadings. Professional, concise, and coherent writing style throughout. Consistent and accurate use of Harvard-style referencing, demonstrating a strong range of credible sources across the report and any appendices. Do NOT include an executive summary, introduction, or conclusion. Your report must be submitted in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) format. Submissions in other formats may not be accepted or may be subject to compatibility issues. Your report structure should include the following sections:
Cover page (University cover sheet) Table of Contents Task 1 – Leadership Evaluation (LO1) Task 2 – Ethics and Sustainability Evaluation (LO3) Task 3 – Corporate Governance and Regulatory Impact (LO2) Task 4 – Independent Learning and Critical Resource Use (LO4) References Appendix (if appropriate) Suggested Word Count Guide Task 1 – Leadership Evaluation: 1,250 Words Task 2 – Ethics and Sustainability Evaluation: 1,250 Words Task 3 – Corporate Governance and Regulatory Impact: 1,250 Words Task 4 – Independent Learning and Critical Resource Use: 1,250 Words Total: 5,000 Words
The maximum word count for this assignment is 5,000 words. Any content exceeding this limit will not be marked. The word count includes all content within the main body of the report but excludes the cover page, table of contents, references, and appendices.